What Does the Dictionary Leave Unsaid? A Study of the Information Missing from the Lexical Entry

Abstract

This study seeks to examine the lexical entry in Arabic dictionaries from an unconventional perspective: not what the dictionary says, but what it leaves unsaid. It does so through a critical and analytical reading that compares the propositions of lexicographical theory with actual practice and distinguishes between a form of silence imposed by the limitations of lexicographical work and another that violates the standards established by lexicographers themselves. The study concludes that lexicographical silence is not so much an incidental deficiency as it is the outcome of a traditional lexicographical approach that separates words from their living contexts. Although recently completed historical dictionary projects address its historical dimension, they do not eliminate the need for a synchronic dictionary based on a corpus of contemporary usage. Accordingly, the study proposes a vision for an Arabic lexicography that is more conscious of its epistemological limitations.